I am the villain in the book

As the sun set, Wei Changtian and his party arrived at Zhongling County.

Indeed, as the lieutenant had said, the county town was not large. The city gate was dilapidated, and the city walls were covered with moss, obviously neglected for many years.

There were only two possible reasons for this situation.

First, the people here were too poor.

Second, the officials here were too rich.

Judging from the magistrate's equally dilapidated residence, Zhongling County should belong to the former situation.

“Lord Liang, this is a rural area, quite humble indeed.”

At the dinner, the thin magistrate looked nervous and full of apology, saying, “If the food doesn't suit your taste, I hope you won't mind.”

“Lord Wang, what are you saying? We are all rough men who eat in the open air all day long. It's good enough to have a hot meal!”

Liang Zhen was unpretentious, laughed twice, and took the first bite.

The magistrate breathed a sigh of relief, with gratitude on his face.

Everyone began to eat. Although there were no good dishes or fine wine, it was better than the meal they had at the post station at noon.

While eating, Wei Changtian glanced at the thin magistrate, whose clothes were patched, and thought that he seemed to be an honest official.

However, Zhongling County was located on a major transportation route, not a remote and desolate place. He wondered why it was so poor under his rule.

Liang Zhen seemed to have the same question, so after eating for a while, he casually asked:

“Lord Wang, along the way, I saw that the land in Zhongling was quite fertile and close to a wide river. Why is this county so poor?”

“This…”

The thin magistrate put down his chopsticks with a guilty look and blushed, unable to speak.

Liang Zhen didn't use his official position to pressure him, just assuming that every family has its own problems.

“Lord Wang, don't take it to heart. I'm just asking casually. If you don't want to say it, then forget it.”

“Alas…”

The thin magistrate opened his mouth, finally sighed, seeming to want to say something but not daring to.

At this moment, Wei Changtian suddenly asked, “Lord Wang, the banditry in Zhongling County must be quite serious, right?”

“This…”

The thin magistrate was stunned: “This young master… what makes you say that?”

He didn't know Wei Changtian's true identity and thought he was a member of Liang Zhen's family.

Of course, Wei Changtian wouldn't introduce himself for no reason—I am the Wei family's son who killed the prime minister. He simply explained while eating:

“We passed through several villages along the way, but we didn't see a single villager when we passed through. Every household had its doors and windows closed, but it was obviously not an abandoned village.”

They had all seen these things, but they had never thought so much about them.

The thin magistrate's expression was also somewhat surprised.

He hesitated for a long time, finally nodded bitterly.

“This young master is right. In recent years, banditry in this county has indeed been serious. The people have suffered unspeakably and many have fled, so it is so desolate.”

“Since there are bandits, why not剿 (jiǎo - eradicate)?” Liang Qin asked in confusion.

“Miss, you don't know, it's not that I don't want to剿 (jiǎo - eradicate)…”

The thin magistrate's tone was very painful: “But I really don't have the ability!”

“With years of banditry, large areas of arable land have been abandoned, and many farmers can't even pay the land tax.”

“The people are poor, and the yamen is also poor. Where can we get money to support the yamen runners…”

“I'm not afraid of you laughing at me… the entire Zhongling County's constables and soldiers combined are less than a hundred people, so how dare we go to剿 (jiǎo - eradicate) the bandits…”

“Knowing there are bandits but unable to剿 (jiǎo - eradicate) them, watching hundreds of thousands of people in Zhongling suffer… I am incompetent, I am incompetent!”

“This…”

Looking at the thin magistrate who was beating his chest and stamping his feet, almost in tears, everyone was silent.

This Zhongling County was too miserable. Such a large place couldn't even afford to support a hundred soldiers?

“If you can't剿 (jiǎo - eradicate) them yourself, why not report to the prefectural yamen and let them send people to剿 (jiǎo - eradicate)?” Liang Qin frowned and asked again.

“Of course I reported it, but the expenses required for the prefectural yamen to send troops are to be borne by the county yamen, and Zhongling County really can't raise that much money.”

The thin magistrate gritted his teeth, clenched his fists, and trembled: “Moreover, it's not enough to just raise military pay, you also need money to bribe those lords in the prefectural yamen.”

“I, I really…”

“…”

The room was silent, everyone silently looked at the ragged thin magistrate, not knowing what to say.

Until Wei Changtian suddenly spoke again: “Lord Wang, no matter how small Zhongling County is, there shouldn't be few shops and stores in the city. Let each of them donate some silver, and it should be enough to pay for the prefectural yamen to send troops.”

“What I haven't tried.”

The thin magistrate shook his head: “But except for a few, others are unwilling to pay even a penny.”

“They all think they are safe hiding in the city and don't care about the life and death of those people outside the city at all!”

“Unwilling to pay?”

Wei Changtian looked at the thin magistrate like an idiot: “Then force them to pay with a knife!”

“This…”

The thin magistrate was stunned for a moment, and then squeezed out a sentence after a long while: “Young, young master, this is against the law…”

As soon as he said this, everyone immediately understood why Zhongling County had come to this point.

No money to剿 (jiǎo - eradicate) bandits, so the bandits are rampant, so the people die or flee, so there is even less money, so the bandits are even more rampant…

What a vicious cycle!

At this rate, it is estimated that the entire Zhongling County will become a bandit's nest in a few years.

In fact, the solution is very simple—find ways to get money, feed the stomachs of the people above, and ask the prefectural yamen to send troops to剿 (jiǎo - eradicate) the bandits.

As long as the banditry is eliminated, all problems will be solved.

But the problem is that this Lord Wang is too “clean” and too “upright”.

He is unwilling to spend money to curry favor with the lords of the prefectural yamen, and he is unwilling to force merchants to donate money through “illegal” means.

The result of this is—the banditry has not been resolved for a long time, and it is getting more and more serious.

Wei Changtian smacked his lips, suddenly thinking of a sentence Kangxi said—

An honest official is not necessarily a good official.

Now it seems that it makes quite a bit of sense.

…

This meal became quite dull later on.

After listening to the situation in Zhongling County, Liang Zhen and others expressed their sympathy, and then continued to eat and drink, without intending to help剿 (jiǎo - eradicate) the bandits or anything.

After all, this is Tanzhou territory. He, a general of Shuzhou, brought people to剿 (jiǎo - eradicate) bandits on someone else's territory… Although the thin magistrate would definitely be grateful, it is unknown what those adults in the Tanzhou government office would think.

Except for Liang Qin, everyone didn't take the banditry in Zhongling County too seriously. After eating and drinking their fill, they bid farewell to the thin magistrate and returned to the inn to rest, preparing to get up early tomorrow and continue on their way.

But what everyone didn't expect was…

They were unwilling to provoke trouble, but trouble took the initiative to come to their door.

That. The five updates promised today seem a little difficult to complete. I owe a few chapters first and will make them up later.